Tuesday, April 22, 2008

COMMENTS: "Me and my partner Mark were visiting our friend Eric in Providence, Rhode Island this past winter and we happened in a very cute funky arty store whose name I've already forgotten, although, if pressed, Eric would probably remember it, since he lives there.

"Anyway, in that shop, there was something that looked like a converted old cigarette machine just like I've seen in the gift shop at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and I thought and said to Mark and Eric, 'Hey, you never know what you'll get with these, but I want to try this!'

"So I bought a token from the saleperson and I bought this eggplant, but I'm just now getting around to photographing myself with it. I'm pretty proud of being about to get it close enough to my cellphone camera so that you can read it, and so it almost looks like my head is the same size as it is.

"Back when I was an art student I did a little art exhibit of mail art and really enjoyed when random people sent things in, so this really has captured my imagination. I haven't gone onto your site yet, but I'm going to wait a couple of days and see if this makes it up there.

Monday, April 7, 2008

COMMENTS: "Have you ever heard of the Art-o-Mat? Art-o-Mats are refurbished vintage cigarette vending machines filled with art! And not just any art, art packaged in cigarette-sized packages! What could be more fun than that?!?

"I was first introduced to the Art-o-Mat, when a friend handed me a $5 token at Monkey Hill Antiques in New Hope, PA. My pull, from this odd Bulldog Juggling Art-o-Mat, won me a Stray Eggplant... a grape and green clay eggplant that reads "Poof, you're a puppeteer."Yes, you heard me... I pulled an inspirational eggplant. And to be honest... I LOVE it!

"Its sits so pretty on my desk next to two gnomes, a medal of Our Lady of Czestochowa which has Pope John Paul II on the other side (I'm a Polish Grandaughter!), and a golden "long life" Buddha, I received from a good friend."

NOTE: Though Carrie got this recently, it is an eggplant from the very first edition, made in 2004. They are no longer made like this one with the quotes glued on. Now the letters are recessed into the clay.

About Me

Stray Eggplant is an artistic endeavor, begun in 2004, by artist Laura E.
Gentry. She has sculpted hundreds of eggplants, each with a different random quote, which have been sold throughout the US and in Canada and the UK in Art*o*mat vending machines. This blog is the gallery of eggplant owners. Click the photos to see enlargements. More information about this project is at strayeggplant.com.

ART*O*MAT ON THE RACHEL RAY SHOW

On this clip from the March 12 episode of the Rachel Ray show, she explores an Art*o*mat machine--and even experiences a bit of vending rage! There is a Stray Eggplant sitting on top of the machine and in a close-up shot you can see it is the one that says "those blabber mouths"! Enjoy.